


Right Here is Where We Begin

by weasleytook



Category: Big Bang Theory
Genre: Action/Adventure, Diary/Journal, F/M, Friendship, Humor, Romance, Superheroes, Superpowers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-09-27
Updated: 2011-09-27
Packaged: 2017-10-24 02:40:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 21,849
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/258010
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/weasleytook/pseuds/weasleytook
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>One day you're just a waitress. Or a physicist. Then all of a sudden you wake up and you've got superpowers. But that doesn't  automatically make you some kind of superhero. Oh, no, there's work you have to put in before the world sings your praises. Sheldon has a  handbook with a 15 step plan. Penny took notes. Notes that she's going to ignore as she tries to explain how to go from waitress to superhero in her own way.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is an informal sequel to [The Hardest Part is Finding the Name](http://gazeback.livejournal.com/8855.html). By "informal", I mean, you don't have to read that fic to read and understand what's going on in this one. But I thought I'd link it anyway.
> 
>  **Special Thanks:** Before I do anything else, I must thank the following amazing people: [](http://galfridian.livejournal.com/profile)[**galfridian**](http://galfridian.livejournal.com/) for being the greatest beta ever (as well as hand-holder, cheerleader and all around great human being). Your assistance was absolutely invaluable and I couldn't have finished this without you. Thanks to the wonderful [](http://juniperlane.livejournal.com/profile)[**juniperlane**](http://juniperlane.livejournal.com/) for her wonderful art and wonderful fanmix and for generally being a wonderful person even when you aren't making me pretty things for my fic. This fanmix sincerely got me through the last day of edits and formatting by being so awesome. Thank you to [](http://fujiidom.livejournal.com/profile)[**fujiidom**](http://fujiidom.livejournal.com/) for her non-stop support of this crazy adventure - I hope it lives up to your expectations. And shout-outs to [](http://sinstralpride.livejournal.com/profile)[**sinstralpride**](http://sinstralpride.livejournal.com/) for giving me unending support and Raylan Givens, and to [](http://marksykins.livejournal.com/profile)[**marksykins**](http://marksykins.livejournal.com/) who prompted the original fic that inspired this one and probably had no idea what it would turn into.

* * * 

  


  
**  
COVER ART BY [](http://juniperlane.livejournal.com/profile)[**juniperlane**](http://juniperlane.livejournal.com/) :   
**   
[   
](http://i54.tinypic.com/24fw6br.jpg)   
_(Click to see the full version.)_

 **  
FANMIX COVER BY [](http://juniperlane.livejournal.com/profile)[**juniperlane**](http://juniperlane.livejournal.com/) :   
**   
[   
](http://i55.tinypic.com/117a64n.jpg)   
_(Click to see the full version.)_

 **  
TRACKLIST:   
**

**001** / OK Go / Invincible  
 **002** / Yeah Yeah Yeahs / Date with the Night  
 **003** / The Distillers / Beat Your Heart Out  
 **004** / Metric / Help I'm Alive  
 **005** / Juniper Lane / Getting the Human Out  
 **006** / St. Vincent / Hysterical Strength  
 **007** / Cat Power / Sea of Love  
 **008** / Amy Macdonald / Run  
 **009** / Sons and Daughters / Fight  
 **010** / OK Go / All Is Not Lost

[Download](http://www.megaupload.com/?d=HFKJ3XD9).

And now... on to the fic!

* * *

  


  
  


  


> When I was ten years old, my big sister gave me a diary for my birthday. She gave some speech about how if I recorded all my secret thoughts and feelings that someday I would read them again and learn something and blah blah blah. Fifteen years later and I still have no idea what the hell she was talking about. Oh, I wrote in it, sure. But now every journal I had up until I was eighteen is now sitting in my parents’ attic and I haven’t learned a damn thing.
> 
> But this isn’t anything like those journal entries. It’s not about what boy I kissed under the bleachers or how I got in trouble for falling asleep in Chemistry class.
> 
> This is about how I became a superhero. And maybe nobody will ever read it. Or maybe in four hundred years or so when I finally die (yes, finally) – maybe someone will find this and publish it. I don’t know any of that yet. My superpower isn’t predicting the future.
> 
> Okay, I’m not even _really_ a superhero yet. I’m just a girl with a superpower. As I keep being reminded by Sheldon. Regularly.
> 
> But, it’s not like you just wake up one morning and all of a sudden you’re a superhero. It’s a process. A long process. With steps. And some of those steps have bullet points and sub-steps and diagrams and bar graphs and pie charts.
> 
> I don’t remember all the crap that came underneath those steps. That’s Sheldon’s thing. He has a PowerPoint presentation. (Sheldon has a PowerPoint for everything.) At one point, I stopped paying attention and started thinking about random shit like – which Power Ranger was more of a badass, Pink or Yellow?
> 
> For the record: Pink.
> 
> My point is, you don’t just decide you’re going to be a superhero and then you automatically are one. (Unless you’re the Power Rangers and then the aliens decide that for you. What was up with that anyway?) Even if you wake up to discover you’re invincible, you still have to put some work into the whole superhero thing.
> 
> I’m not going to bore you with pie charts and diagrams. You can get all that when Sheldon inevitably releases his memoirs. The first thing you probably need to do is get superpowers. (Duh.) Becoming super isn’t like shooting fish in a barrel and I should know because I actually have shot fish in a barrel. That’s how we do it in Nebraska.
> 
> Oh, right, back to the superpowers thing - unless you’re a billionaire like Batman, you’re not going to get very far without them.

  


* * *

 **Step One: You Gotta Have Powers, Right?**

Penny had fallen. Fallen hard. She told Sheldon later that she fell asleep dead and woke up alive. He told her that was an absurd way to put it, because he was Sheldon and that’s what he did best.

But the facts were that she had gone from being normal average Penny who hurt like everyone else hurt to someone who could survive jumping off buildings without a scratch on her. Oh, she could still bleed, get cut, break bones, but she felt no pain and everything healed almost instantly.

It was totally creepy at first. And it took _months_ before she could even begin to get used to the idea of it. She was finally thinking that maybe it wasn’t all that weird when Sheldon walked through her door. And by "walked through", he literally walked through solid wood and into her apartment.

Sheldon had been the only one privy to her own abilities for the past few months but now it was his turn to be the mutant.

"Holy shit, Sheldon."

"There’s no reason to be profane about it."

Six months ago she might have stared in disbelief, but now she stood there in awe while Sheldon looked uncomfortable in his own skin.

"You just went from my brainy sidekick to... well, whatever this is."

"Well - I - Wait, did you say sidekick?"

"Of course. What the hell else would you have been?"

"Technical advisor."

"No, Sheldon, definitely not."

"That’s just patently ridiculous. Sidekicks are –"

"We can have this argument later. Now, what the hell is going on here?"

Penny watched him closely as he seemed to be looking closely at his own limbs for answers. When she had unwillingly revealed her power to him, he had gotten excited and gone directly into scientist mode. But now the tables had turned, and Sheldon looked confused. Of course, Sheldon’s confused face looked a lot like most people’s regular faces so it was hard to tell.

"Maybe you should sit down, sweetie. And try not to disappear through my couch or something."

He nodded slightly and took a seat on her couch as Penny sat down next to him. There was an uncomfortable silence as Penny stared at Sheldon and Sheldon stared at his hands.

"Sheldon."

Nothing. No response.

"Sheldon," she said a little more emphatically.

"Mmmph."

She couldn’t even begin to interpret what that meant and she had known him for years.

"Are you actually freaking out about this? Because when I told you about my powers, you were just like, well - you were cool about it."

"Hmm."

"This is a good thing, right? Welcome to the fun of being a mutant."

"What an utter disappointment."

Penny’s eyebrows couldn’t have risen higher if they had been attached to one of those giant cranes you see on construction sites.

"A disappointment? Because you have a power? I thought you would love this. Now you can be an X-Man or Justice Guy or whatever."

"X-Men and Justice League. Do I have to explain this again? I thought you took notes the last time."

At least he was talking again. Penny shook her head and Sheldon continued, "I just hoped that if I ever attained a superpower it would be something useful. Like telepathy, or mind control, or super strength or time travel or –"

She put up a hand to stop him. "I get it. You’re disappointed because you can walk through things."

"Phase."

"Huh?"

"It’s called phasing. It means I can shift my atoms through the atoms of solid objects."

"I don’t see why you’re disappointed in that. It sounds all sciencey. And you are like Mr. Science."

Sheldon looked at her with disdain like he thought Mr. Science was a terrible name for a superhero. (And it really was.) But then she realized his disdain came from another place.

"And what good does this do me? Should I ever lock myself out of my apartment again, I’ll have no trouble getting back in. Not exactly something that makes the comic books fly off the shelf."

Penny rolled her eyes and punched Sheldon in the arm. Not too hard, but it only made him look more frustrated.

"Sheldon Cooper, you are an idiot."

"Impossible. You know what my IQ is."

"Shut up. I meant you are acting like an idiot. Oh, boo hoo, poor widdle Shelly." She mock pouted before continuing, "Didn’t get the superpower he really wanted so now he’s going to whine about it. Grow up. Embrace it. I did."

"Yes, but, you’re invincible. That has to be in the top ten of most desirable superpowers. Perhaps even the top five."

"Definitely top five."

Sheldon looked like he was about to develop another superpower: the ability to kill her with laser beam eyes. Penny sighed and briefly patted him on the shoulder in a pathetic attempt to comfort him.

"What I’m trying to say is, we don’t always get exactly what we want out of life. Being invincible is really cool. It would also be cool if I could fly or lift a car over my head or have x-ray vision. But I don’t."

"Are you telling me that I should just get over it?"

He said the last three words as if he was using sarcastic finger quotes but his hands didn’t move from their spot in his lap.

"Yesssss, that’s exactly what I’m saying. Besides, there has to be some cool stuff about being able to do... whatever it is you can do."

"I suppose."

She was hoping for something a little more enthusiastic, but this was a start. At least he was sitting up straighter and it seemed like the wheels in his head were turning again.

"Of course, Penny, you do realize this will require –"

"Further testing. Of course. At least it won’t be me getting poked this time around."

Sheldon nodded and replied, "No, it won’t. But I do have to ask you - have you ever taken a blood sample from someone else before?"

Penny’s face twisted into an expression that could only be interpreted one way: eww.

* * *

  


> So I got to poke Sheldon _several_ times, and honestly I got better at it every single time I did it. Sheldon was a little squirrely at first, but even he got used to it after the first couple times.
> 
> Fine. I know that "poked" sounds dirty. Whatever. But, please believe me when I say that the only poking going on between me and Sheldon involved needles.
> 
> That doesn’t sound very good either. I know.
> 
> But the point is, Sheldon can’t just accept that sometimes you just wake up and you have a superpower you didn’t have before. No, he has to look at every little thing under a microscope and analyze it to death.
> 
> I guess, in some ways, it’s been kind of interesting to learn a little about DNA and mutations and all the other crap that goes in to making us whatever it is we are. But Sheldon doesn’t bother dumbing it down and that makes it the most boring subject ever.
> 
> Now, if Bill Nye the Science Guy were explaining it? I’d totally be in to it. Of course if I ever said that to Sheldon, I’d definitely get another strike. He’s not a fan.
> 
> Sheldon is obsessed with finding out why this had happened to us and what it could all mean and what made us different and blah blah blah blah.
> 
> I pretend to care, but all I really want to do was suit up and fight a bad guy.

  


* * *

 **Step Two: The Science of Whatever**

She had gotten used to these so-called urgent text messages from Sheldon. Sometimes he wanted to meet her at a random location and sometimes he told her to come to his office at CalTech. Today, he wanted her to come to CalTech but to a room that she hadn’t been to before.

Sheldon was nothing if not thorough so he made sure to e-mail her a map of the building so she wouldn’t get lost. He might be annoying and pedantic, but it got the job done.

Penny arrived two minutes early according to her watch and was shocked at what she found. Sheldon staring at a whiteboard filled with numbers and diagrams was nothing new but the tiny blonde next to him was completely unexpected.

"Bernadette?"

"Hey Penny!" As usual, her voice was filled with cheer. Penny, on the other hand, looked at both of them rather glumly.

"Hi. Uhm. Sheldon? What is going on?"

"I brought Bernadette in to consult with me on the data I’ve collected. I have a wide scope of knowledge but Bernadette is better versed in all things biology, so I felt it was best to talk to her about our... condition."

Condition. So that’s what he was going to call it. Like it was a case of the measles or something.

"But I - we - uhh - no offense to Bernadette or anything, but we said we were going to keep this a secret for now. Between us. You and me. No one else."

"I can keep a secret."

Penny’s head turned towards Bernadette with a disapproving frown. She was a great friend, but if loose lips sank ships, Bernadette could sink an entire fleet.

"Really? How about the time you told your honey Howard about that thing?"

"What thing?"

"That thing. About that time. You know, the thing with Leonard and the... you know."

Sheldon cleared his throat. Loudly and pointedly. "Penny, I have made Bernadette swear on her life as well as Howard’s that she won’t speak a word of this to anyone."

"But –"

"I once thought myself incapable of keeping secrets and yet I’ve been able to keep yours for months."

"Until now," Penny muttered as she resisted the urge to roll her eyes.

"Would you rather I have gone to a biologist with better credentials and more expertise –"

Bernadette interjected with a defiant, "Hey!"

Sheldon continued on, completely unfazed, "- who has no loyalty to either one of us, rather than a member of our social group who is more likely to keep our secrets?"

Penny exhaled loudly and nodded. "I see your point. I just worry. We haven’t even decided if or when we’re going to tell people. So in the future, could you at least tell me before you go and do something like this? It’s my secret too, remember."

He paused to consider it and Penny expected him to come back at her with something rude or fussy, but instead he just nodded in acquiescence. "That’s fair. I promise I won’t make any decisions like this without consulting you beforehand."

"Thank you."

Bernadette looked a little impressed as she handed Penny a print-out with a bunch of numbers on it that Penny knew she wasn’t going to understand. "Back to what we’re really here for. I’m not a geneticist but I have enough of a background to understand some of what is going on. If you end up going public, we’re going to need a more qualified geneticist to go over our findings."

Penny zoned out at the words "going public". It was something she and Sheldon had only talked about once, before he had his power and when she was still learning how to deal with hers. They knew there were bound to be others out there like them and someday one of them would make the news. It was only a matter of time.

The only thing they had decided back then was that it wasn’t time yet. Penny was afraid of being turned into some government super soldier because she had seen it on some TV show once. Sheldon did nothing to allay those fears either.

Bernadette and Sheldon were explaining what was in the print-out and on the whiteboard. They had figured out what gene had mutated and how it could be passed down to future generations. But most importantly, they felt that eventually what was in her mutant DNA (and Sheldon’s) could help with medical research as well.

Bernadette was definitely better at explaining it to Penny, and even the nonsensical stuff sounded cuter when she said it. She could totally give Bill Nye a run for his money.

When they were done thoroughly going over their notes, all Penny could think about was how much she needed a margarita. To clear her head, of course. So she bid farewell to Sheldon and dragged Bernadette to lunch with her.

The moment both of their car doors were shut, Penny sighed and turned to her friend. "Bernadette, you know I trust you, right?"

"Of course."

"But what if - what if the guys start to suspect something –"

"Raj already does. He thinks you guys are sleeping together in secret."

Penny laughed so loudly the sound echoed off the interior of the car. "Just let him keep believing that if it helps. The thought of me and Sheldon doing - you know - _THAT_ \- is so weird I would have to keep it a secret."

Bernadette didn’t say anything but she looked like she was trying to imagine it so Penny spoke again, "What about Howard? Can you lie to your fiancé like that?"

"Oh. I lie to him all the time."

"What?"

Bernadette grinned as she buckled her seatbelt and spoke in a voice slightly lower than normal. "Oh Howard, it’s not the size. Oh Howard, of course I enjoyed that. Oh, Howard, I - "

"Okay! That’s enough! I get it. You can lie."

Penny shuddered as she turned the car on. For the second time this week, she only had one word on her mind: eww.

* * *

  


> Okay, okay, I know that was more about keeping the big secret than the actual science part like I said it was going to be. But listen, if you wanted to know all the science details, you’d be in Sheldon’s journal and not mine. (Whoever you are.)
> 
> I will say that I now know more about genetics than I ever wanted to know. Not to mention Howard and Bernadette’s sex life. Things you definitely don’t want to know.
> 
> So where was I? Right. Oh yeah, thanks to Bernadette, we learned that genes can just spontaneously mutate... no, really. Somewhere in all that technobabble, that’s what I learned. One day it’s just a regular gene that carries the potential mutation, then the next day it could just pop into a _supergene_.
> 
> So we knew that, but we didn’t know the extent of the mutation and what exactly we could do with our powers. Well, I mostly knew mine because my supergene popped a few months before Sheldon’s did.
> 
> You know what else I learned? If I ever wanted to see a big vein in Sheldon’s forehead throb, I should just mention that. Works every time.

  


* * *

 **Step Three: That’s nice, but what _else_ can you do?**

Penny was invincible. That much was absolutely certain. Sheldon had theorized that the only way she could be destroyed is if someone cut her into pieces and separated all the pieces so they wouldn’t grow back together. Even then, he wasn’t completely sure she wouldn’t just sprout new limbs. And Penny wasn’t going to test that one either.

She had jumped off buildings, gotten stabbed and thrown herself down the stairs. One day he was going to push her in front of a bus, she figured. But she would survive like always. She didn’t feel pain and the longer she had her powers, the quicker she seemed to heal.

Plus, there were some extra benefits too. She ran faster, was physically stronger and seemed a lot more agile than ever before. Not like Superman, but she was definitely above average in all of those areas.

There was also a really good chance that she could live for a few hundred years or more. Penny hadn’t entirely processed that thought, but she figured as long as looked young and hot, it couldn’t be so bad.

Sheldon, on the other hand, was still trying to figure out what was useful about being able to phase.

"Okay, Sheldon, I went on the internet and read all about Kitty Pryde."

Penny was standing in his office with a large gym bag on her shoulder. Sheldon looked up from his desk in surprise.

"By all means, Penny, do come directly in and don’t bother to knock."

"Thanks. So, I looked up that Kitty Pryde girl. The one that Juno played in the X-Men movie?"

Sheldon put his pencil down and nodded. "I’m aware of who she is."

Penny tossed her bag into the nearest chair and clapped her hands together. "It’s time, Sheldon. We need to find out what else you can do. Kitty Pryde can do a lot of stuff besides walk through walls. Maybe you can too."

"Right now?"

"No time like the present."

Sheldon sighed and stood up while Penny went to the door and locked it just to be sure.

"You know that’s just going to fuel the rumors even further."

He was often clueless when it came to sex and relationships, but even he knew what this was implying to outsiders.

"Oh, I know. But let them talk. I ran into Raj in the hallway and just told him I was bringing you lunch. I’m sure he’ll go run and tell the other guys what he thinks we’re doing. Let’s face it - it’s no stranger than the truth."

That was debatable and she knew it, but she was far from ready to tell other people about their powers.

Sheldon shrugged it off and watched as she pushed chairs out of the way to leave them more floorspace. "So what do you need me to do?"

"I need you to let me punch you. In the face."

"You’ve already done that once."

"Yes, but this time, you need to do your phasey thing and let my fist go through your face. You get it?"

He nodded and seemed to steel himself as he waited for her punch. Penny realized that either way, she was going to enjoy this. She curled her fingers into a fist and aimed it directly at the middle of his face. Instead of feeling flesh, she felt nothing but air.

But Sheldon hadn’t used his power. Instead he had shrieked and ducked out of the way.

Penny frowned at him in disappointment. "That’s not how that was supposed to go."

"It was instinct. From years of having an older brother. And a twin sister."

"Well, you need to hone your powers. Just think about being, you know, non-solid and maybe that will work. And don’t you dare move this time."

"You don’t have to think about not getting injured for your power to work."

"No, but I’m - different. Just stand still, okay?"

She had wanted to say better, because well, she was and she knew it. At least in this arena, she had been gifted with something better than Sheldon. But she held back this time because she needed him to listen to her.

He nodded and took a slow breath in. This time he looked more relaxed, so Penny swung with all her might and hit air again. This time the air felt like it was buzzing with electricity and when she looked at the end of her wrist, her fist was floating in Sheldon’s face like he was a ghost.

If it wasn’t so cool, it would have been really disgusting.

She jumped about two feet backwards and gave Sheldon a wide grin. "Nice."

He took a moment to look slightly impressed with himself and then readied himself for the next test. "Now what?"

"I’m going to shoot you."

"You brought a gun onto a college campus?"

Penny rolled her eyes and reached in to her bag for her weapon. She quickly shot three soft Nerf bullets at Sheldon. The first one hit and bounced off of him, but the next two passed right through him and landed on the desk behind him.

"It’s a kid’s toy. I wasn’t going to shoot you with real bullets."

"I would have."

"Well, lucky for you it was me, because you let the first one hit you. Real bullets means you’d be dead."

Penny put the gun down and looked at the walls around her thoughtfully. "Are any of these offices next to yours empty right now?"

Sheldon gestured to the left with a nod. "Yes, that’s Dr. McKeehon’s office. He’s on a three month spiritual sojourn in Asia. That man has really gone soft in his middle age."

"Good. I need you to go through that wall but you have to try and take me with you. Just don’t let go of me because I don’t want to get stuck inside a wall, okay?"

Sheldon breathed in deeply and walked towards the wall as Penny followed. She crooked her elbow around his arm and held on tightly as Sheldon began to move through the wall. She felt that same electricity she felt when her fist had gone through his head, but all over her body this time. Second later, they were standing in a dark empty office and Penny exhaled loudly as the electricity dissipated.

"Whoa. Does it always feel like that?"

"I suppose."

"Never tell me how disappointed you are with your ability, because that, that was really cool. Maybe you don’t think so, but there is a lot you can do with this. If someone shoots me, I can heal, but you can just let them pass right through you. Ooh! Maybe I can throw you in front of a bus now. Can I?"

Sheldon looked uneasy, like maybe she was enjoying the idea of throwing him in front of a bus way too much. Maybe she was. She still had her arm hooked around his so he ignored her and phased them both back to his office.

Penny quickly unhooked herself from him and grabbed a stack of papers from her bag. "Okay. So, phasing through punches and bullets, we got that. You can bring someone else with you, we got that. But I printed out about thirty pages of stuff on Kitty Pryde, so there’s more to explore here. Plus, we need to test your speed, strength and agility to see if that is improved."

Sheldon looked wary but Penny just continued on babbling, "Listen, they say turnabout is fair play, so now it’s my turn to put you through hell. Meet me on the roof after work and wear something comfortable, okay?"

"But Penny –"

"Shush. Just do what I say for once, okay?"

"Fine, but –"

Penny shoved her research into her hands and gave him a scolding look. "Seriously. Just zip it. I’ll see you at six."

She quickly grabbed her bag and headed out the door before he could object again. Sheldon liked being in charge, but so did she and she was definitely going to enjoy this.

* * *

  


> So I’ve been doing my best to whip his skinny ass into shape.
> 
> Just like my own mutation, Sheldon is also faster, stronger and more agile now. The best part though? I’m still faster and stronger than he is. Probably more agile too, but I’m not sure exactly how to test that.
> 
> It’s really cool to be better at something than the great super-genius Sheldon Cooper. Really cool.
> 
> You know what else is cool? Apparently mutants burn calories faster than regular humans so we can eat whatever we want and never gain weight. I could literally swim in a giant vat of melted chocolate and still be a size four. And I mean _literally_ , because even if it was super hot, it wouldn’t affect me and my superskin.
> 
> I wouldn’t actually do that though. But knowing I could is pretty awesome.
> 
> Sorry, I keep getting off track. After we found out exactly what we could do with our abilities, we realized that if we ever wanted to be crimefighters, neither of us were really trained in actual combat. Don’t get me wrong, I can throw down with the best of them if need be. I can scrap. That usually involves hair pulling and scratching.
> 
> But if somebody came at me with some kind of kung-fu, I would have been screwed.
> 
> If this story was a movie (and maybe it will be someday), this is the part that would be a training montage set to a soaring power ballad.

  


* * *

 **Step Four: Congratulations, Grasshopper, You Know Kung Fu!**

"I don’t know what you’re bitching about, Sheldon. All these steps and all this training was your idea. You made me learn them in order and everything."

"That was when you were the superhero and I was just your technical advisor. I didn’t know I was going to end up doing it too."

Penny grabbed the towel from her gym bag and wiped a thin sheen of sweat from her forehead. They had just finished their fifth martial arts class that week and were heading out of the studio to walk home.

Sheldon made sure they were still out of earshot of anyone on the sidewalk when he continued his rant, "Besides, nothing can ever hit me and even if you got hit, you don’t get injured. Why do we need to take self-defense classes anyway?"

"Because if we’re actually going to stop the bad guys, we need to do more than just stand there when they come at us. We need to be able to fight back."

Penny moved closer to him, probably a little too close for his comfort but she had a point to make. She gave him her steeliest gaze and spoke lower than usual, "Sheldon, think of all those times some guy stronger than you decided to try and make you his bitch. How many wedgies and swirlies and other crap have you put up with over the years? Wouldn’t you have liked to take those guys down a notch or two?"

She had never been bullied as a child like Sheldon had, but she now wished she had taken some of these classes when she was younger. It would have felt a lot safer walking around at night knowing how to send a dude twice your size to the ground.

Sheldon’s breathing was erratic and she didn’t know if it was because he was tired from the class or he was thinking about what she had said. She thought it might be the latter because though they both sweated, neither of them got tired out. Their new abilities gave them the type of muscle memory people dreamt of having and their instructors just thought they were quick learners.

"I suppose it does give me more control than I’ve ever had before."

"Exactly. You’ve always been able to dominate people intellectually. That’s just a given. But physically? It’s a brand new world, Sheldon. Enjoy it."

He continued to ponder her words as they walked home together in silence. She just hoped he didn’t enjoy it _too_ much. A Sheldon with too much power could be very dangerous.

* * *

  



	2. Chapter 2

* * *

  


> I think it goes without saying that I feel like a total badass. I even have Sheldon _listening_ to me. This may not seem like a big deal to you, but before this, the only thing Sheldon thought I was capable of doing was buying shoes.
> 
> Okay, that’s only partially true. He also knows I am awesome at paintball and can kick his ass at Halo. He just hates admitting that out loud. But there is no denying that I’m adjusting to this whole mutant thing better than him.
> 
> I call this a case of expectations versus reality. Sheldon has read hundred, probably thousands, of comic books in his life so he expects things to be different. (Even with all his rules, I think he thought this would go smoother or faster or something.) But until I moved into 4B my biggest exposure to superhero lore was making out with Billy Rogers in the back row at the first Spider-man movie.
> 
> Sheldon has high expectations, so he’s disappointed when that isn’t reality. I had no expectations, thus my reality has been a lot more pleasant. Solid theory, I think.
> 
> I don’t think this next step is actually in Sheldon’s original rules, but I’m adding it anyway. Because once you have the power, you have to make an important decision about it. One that will affect your life and countless others.
> 
> Sometimes you make that decision early on, and sometimes you change your mind about it later.

  


* * *

 **Step Five: With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility**

It was Raj’s turn to pick their monthly movie marathon and he decided to go with the entire X-Men series. Penny and Sheldon couldn’t help but be amused. She often skipped these marathons because ten hours of hobbits and Jedis and superheroes was just too much.

But now that she had a vested interest in the lore of superheroes, she decided to stick around, at least for a couple of the movies. Raj decided they had to watch them in proper order, meaning _X-Men: First Class_ came first.

Penny had to admit that it was pretty good. She and Sheldon would exchange an odd glance when a particular moment hit home with them. But it also made Penny think too much. Way more than the filmmakers probably intended her to.

She furtively tapped out a quick sentence on her phone’s keypad and sent it to Sheldon. It said: "With great power comes great responsibility."

Penny watched Sheldon frown as he read it and then he responded by typing back at her: "Wrong movie. That’s _Spider-man_."

Penny knew that. It was one thing she remembered in between Billy Rogers’ clumsy groping in the back row of that movie theatre. She quickly sent back: "I know. I was just thinking that if we’re not careful, one of us could become more like Erik instead of Charles."

"He does make some good points."

"SHELDON."

Penny suddenly felt Leonard’s eyes on her as he spoke up, "You know, it’s rude to text each other while people are trying to watch a movie."

Howard agreed. "Why are you two texting anyway? You’re sitting two feet away from each other."

Raj didn’t say anything but Penny caught him smiling smugly as he took a bite of popcorn. She wanted to wipe that look off his face, but she couldn’t exactly tell him the real truth.

"We’re just... uhm... well - it’s none of your business. Right, Sheldon?"

Sheldon looked at least ten times more confused than she was. "Yes. It’s no one’s business but our own."

She made sure to give each guy a pointed glare before looking back at Sheldon. "We’ll talk later."

Penny even threw in a wink to end her sentence, just to amplify their curiosity. She figured the longer they thought her and Sheldon had some sort of weird romantic arrangement going on, the longer they could keep their real secret from them. It wasn’t like she had time to have a real boyfriend these days, so she might as well have a fake boyfriend, as weird as it may be.

Halfway through the second movie of the night, Penny reached across and tapped Sheldon on the arm. When she got his attention she made a motion with her head towards the hallway.

"Something wrong with your neck?"

"No."

She made the motion again.

"Ohhhhh. I see."

Penny excused herself and a moment later Sheldon followed her out in to the hallway. She waited for a moment and then realized there was a chance Raj or the other guys were listening at the door so she grabbed Sheldon’s arm and led him into her own apartment.

"What is wrong with you?"

"I worry. About you."

"I’m not sure what you’re referring to."

Penny bit her lower lip and took a moment to figure out how to phrase exactly what she was thinking. "Sheldon, you have a tendency to go over the top sometimes. Even you have to admit that you like being in control, you like being the smartest and the best, and sometimes you flaunt that."

Sheldon shrugged and it was a little too nonchalant for Penny’s taste. "I wouldn’t say I flaunt it. If it’s the truth, and it is, then I have no issue expressing that."

"You think you’re superior."

"I am superior. And now you are too."

"Do you see how that could be a problem?"

"No."

She sighed and leaned against her door. "All the comic books you’ve read and you don’t get it? Sometimes a person, a person like us, they may start out wanting to be a hero but somewhere along the way they become a villain. Do you see what I mean?"

Sheldon crossed his arms over his chest and nodded. "Yes. Yes, I do. You have nothing to worry about, Penny. I may be a man of science and logic, but I was still raised with my mother’s Christian values. I have no intent on becoming some sort of supervillain."

"Can you be sure of that though? Sometimes people change, or they do things in the heat of battle that they wouldn’t normally do, especially if someone they love is in danger."

"I am hardly one to get worked up due to emotional attachments. But if it will make you feel better, then we will make a vow. When we go out on the streets to fight whatever evil is out there, we’ll work to bring those people to justice. No killing. Minimal harm. Only if there is no other choice do we cross that line. Fair?"

She rocked back and forth on her feet for a moment but when she stopped she nodded in agreement. They had yet to put themselves out there and fight any real fights and she hadn’t even thought of the consequences until now.

"That’s fair. I can definitely stick to that."

"Good. Then we’ve decided. We’re heroes, not villains."

"Yep," she replied before she exhaled slowly in attempt to relax. But as she followed Sheldon back to his apartment, she noted something important. At no point had Sheldon worried about _her_ going to the dark side.

* * *

  


> Was that foreshadowing? Hell if I know. I’m just living in the moment here. But maybe when I look back at this in the years to come, I’ll be like, "Whoa. Accidental foreshadowing."
> 
> Now, where was I? Right. Back to Sheldon’s list.
> 
> You get your superpowers, you learn how to fight, all that’s good. But, you know, it actually costs a lot of money to be a real superhero.
> 
> There are all kinds of expenditures you don’t think about when you’re _not_ a superhero. But when it happens to you? Well, I’m not exactly going to make a dent in it with my Cheesecake Factory tips, am I?

  


* * *

 **Step Six: Money, Money, Money**

She felt something in her leg crack, and maybe something in her shoulder too. If she had been just a normal stuntwoman, landing a little off the mark could have been fatal. But Penny wasn’t normal. In the full second it took for her brain to register that she had broken bones, they were already healed.

The director had yelled cut from his place yards away and Penny jumped to her feet in one swift move.

"I’m fine, I’m fine! Call off the EMTs."

She dusted off her jeans and gave a nod at the director as he walked towards her. He had years of experience in the industry and knew an accident when he saw one.

"You sure you’re fine? Even a more experienced stuntperson would have trouble with that and you’ve –"

"I know. I’ve only been doing this for a month. But I’m fine, and if I wasn’t I would tell you. I’m just lucky I guess. Did you get the shot you needed?"

"Yeah, you can go home. But you should know, you have a visitor."

"Oh."

Penny smiled and gave the director a quick thank you as she spotted Sheldon standing on the sidelines near a couple of production assistants. She took off the brown wig she had been wearing to match the lead actress’ hairstyle and jogged over to greet him.

"Hey, what are you doing here?"

"You told me I could come visit you on set anytime."

"I didn’t think you would actually take me up on that. Uhm, come on, walk with me to the wardrobe trailer."

Sheldon obediently followed Penny away from where others could hear. "You know if you keep having mishaps like that, people are going to start to suspect the truth about you."

Penny sighed but she knew he was right. She would just have to be a little more careful. "I know. But I make more on one day of this job than I can in a month of working as a waitress. And we need the money."

They had been discussing things that they needed to do the past few weeks. Things that seemed so far out of the realm of what she had ever expected her life to be. Things like costumes, secret identities, a headquarters. (The discussion of which had sparked a very long Sheldon diatribe about the difference between a lair and a headquarters.) All of those things required money.

"We can’t afford much. Not even with your salary increase. And I’ve cashed out my 401K and dipped into my savings too, but –"

"I know, I know. You’re no Bruce Wayne. But I had an idea, and I know you’re going to say no, but maybe... maybe we should consolidate and get an apartment together. That way we can do this stuff any time of day without having to worry about Leonard. And you know my apartment isn’t a good location for a headquarters. You’ve told me on many occasions."

"No. We’re not moving in together."

"I know. Our fake secret relationship isn’t ready to take it to that level, but maybe it’s the only solution."

Penny had actually enjoyed keeping up the ruse that she and Sheldon were secretly involved. It kept the others from figuring out what was really going on. Plus, it was really amusing to see the looks on their faces whenever she dragged Sheldon over to her apartment for a "talk". Talking is what they were really doing, but they had no problem making their friends think they were doing something else.

"No."

"I don’t have any better solutions. Do you?"

"I’m still working on it."

A crew member walked by and waved at her and she spoke lower as she quickly waved back. "Well, you need to work a little harder. Another year of you coming to my apartment every day and they’re going to expect us to get fake married. And I’ve seen your roommate agreement, so I can only imagine what a fake marriage agreement would look like."

Sheldon flinched, but just slightly. He had made it perfectly clear that he wasn't fond of this whole fake secret relationship they had going on. But he hadn't come up with anything better to hide their secret so it would have to stick for now.

"Fine. I have an IQ of 186, I'm sure I can come up with some sort of solution."

"You can walk through walls. Walk yourself right into a bank or something."

"Excuse me? You were the one lecturing me about using our abilities for good and not evil just a few weeks ago, were you not?"

Penny had a blank look for occasions like these. She was using it less now than she had a few years ago, but it still happened on occasion. The biggest change was that Sheldon knew exactly what that look meant.

"Oh. Sarcasm. Of course."

"Of course. I think we just need to start small, worry about the big stuff later on. Maybe when Eternity and Wallman are famous superheroes, we can apply for some sort of grant to help fund our whole save the world bit. Until then, we have to work what we've got."

Sheldon frowned as he responded, "Eternity and Wallman?"

She sighed and her frown matched his nearly identically. "Ugh. I know. Worst ones yet. We'll come up with something eventually, I swear."

"Wallman? WALLMAN?"

"Because you can walk through walls."

"I know that. But that is -"

She went to punch him in the arm but he let her fist pass through him instead. He was getting better at anticipating her movements these days. He probably enjoyed his power just because it was easier for him to avoid human contact now.

"It's terrible. I get it. Not that you've come up with better, and you're the one that owns like fifty thousand comic books."

"That's an exaggeration."

This time Penny didn't respond. She just rolled her eyes and headed into the wardrobe trailer.

* * *

  


> Sometimes it's a really bad idea to let Sheldon make decisions that affect your life. Trust me. Sometimes it's a really good idea.
> 
> This time, it was a good one. I have to hand it to the guy, he actually listened to what I said about starting small. I was worried he was actually going to rob a bank just to try and get us our very own Batcave. But he behaved.
> 
> We also got lucky. Leonard moved out. Priya had come back from India and they got an apartment together, leaving Leonard's bedroom empty. So it was a tiny headquarters, but it was enough to start with. And we didn't have to go across town to do our hero-ing business either.
> 
> You're probably wondering why you even need a lair - I mean, headquarters - anyway. Well, you need a place to store all your superhero stuff, right? What if Amy came over to borrow a sweater and opened my closet to find a superhero costume or a utility belt?
> 
> At least in Sheldon's case, he could pretend it was for Comic Con or something. Not so much for me.

  


* * *

 **Step Seven: No, You Can't Call It A Lair!**

When Penny walked into his apartment, using her own key these days, Sheldon looked positively giddy. It was a rare sight, that was for sure.

"So what's the emergency?"

"Leonard's room has been fully converted and is now ready to go."

"Really? Already? He just moved out like a week ago."

Sheldon nodded and attempted to look serious, but the childlike glee was hard to shake off. "I just couldn't wait. I even skipped Dr. Littman’s retirement party last night. Not that I had any interest in attending anyway. I have no interest in celebrating someone who wasted years of education on becoming a Doctor of Geology. He would have better served the world by becoming a postal worker. At least I find their services useful."

"Sheldon."

"Oh. Right. I apologize. Now, I believe this is where I tell you to cover your eyes so the reveal is a surprise. Correct?"

"Sure. But you have to lead me in there. Invincible or not, I don't want to trip over your coffee table."

He stepped towards her and placed a hand on her arm so Penny dutifully closed her eyes tightly and used her other hand to cover them too. He led her through the hallway towards what had been Leonard's room and she could hear the door creaking slightly as he opened it and positioned her at the threshold.

"You may open your eyes."

She did as she was told and was immediately impressed. It no longer looked like a bedroom but was now a low-rent version of a high-tech facility. Budget was still a concern but Sheldon had loaded it up with flat screen monitors, a police scanner and at least two computers that she could spot. The closet had been converted to hold their costumes and gear, whenever they got around to getting those things.

"Wow, Sheldon, you did all of this on our tiny budget?"

"A lot of it is refurbished, or I built myself. It was actually kind of fun."

"Wow. So...what do we do with it?"

Sheldon sat down at one of the computer keyboards and typed in something in as Penny watched over his shoulder. "I have a database that I'm building. Information about the entire Los Angeles area, law enforcement, known criminals, and so on. The police scanners will alert us to crimes in progress. The computers will help us research whatever we plan to stop or fight."

Penny sat down in the chair next to his with a sigh. "This is - it's actually real now. I mean, it feels real."

He nodded solemnly but it only took a moment for the giddiness to come back. "You have a password to get into the system, and the room has a separate key from the apartment which I'll give you shortly. I considered setting it up to work on retinal scan only -"

"Seriously?"

"It wasn't in our budget."

"Well, we'll just have to save that dream for another day."

He nodded in agreement and pulled up some maps on the big monitor in the center. Penny knew he was about to explain something to her with far too much detail because he had that look in his eyes. Before she let her eyes glaze over as usual, she took a moment to look around their new headquarters again. He had definitely gone above and beyond what she expected.

She smiled slightly as Sheldon prattled on about some underground crime syndicate. There were definitely worse people should could have been stuck being a superhero with.

* * *

  


> Now that I'm thinking about it, I can't imagine any of my other friends being better at this superhero business than Sheldon was. He had done years of research (without even knowing it was research) so that didn't hurt at all. Once he got past his initial shock and disappointment, he became really good at the whole thing.
> 
> Except for the secretive parts of it. Oh, he kept the secret. Bernadette had been the only one he told. He was just really bad at lying about it to keep the others off our trail.
> 
> Not that I was that much better. But it was a big lie. A really really big lie.
> 
> Sheldon didn't even like shaking hands. How could anyone believe that Sheldon was engaging in secret sexcapades with anyone? Especially me. (I seriously cannot believe I used the word sexcapades. Bad Penny.)
> 
> But he has insisted that we keep up the lie. I’ve been getting tired of the whole thing and I’m pretty convinced that nobody is buying it anyway. I told Sheldon that I wasn’t sure, but he kept insisting. Said something about how telling your friends and family only puts them in danger.
> 
> Then he handed me a stack of comic books with storylines that would convince me how important it was to keep our powers a secret. And to keep our identities hidden from the public once we were patrolling regularly.
> 
> So I’m trusting him. I have no choice. But I figure if we’re going to make this work, we have to actually put some work in to selling it.

  


* * *

 **Step Eight: When a Lie is More Believable than the Truth, Tell the Lie**

It was the first movie night at Sheldon's apartment since Leonard had moved out. Not much had changed around the apartment. Except that the door that had once belonged to Leonard's bedroom was now locked and deadbolted.

Something that Leonard had noticed when returning from a bathroom break.

"Sheldon, why is my old room suddenly locked up like Fort Knox?"

Sheldon actually played it cool. Well, cool for him anyway. Penny played it cooler, acting like she hadn't even heard Leonard's question while Sheldon answered, "You no longer live here, what should it matter to you?"

This set off ten minutes of speculation between Leonard, Howard and Raj while Bernadette sat on the floor and remained silent. Leonard suggested he had built a room for his apocalypse preparation gear. Howard said he was either building a time machine or a robot. Raj proposed a room for his priceless comics and a life-size Star Wars stormtrooper. They continued to go back and forth with each suggestion being more ridiculous than the last until Raj took a drink of his beer and then sputtered out, "Secret sex dungeon for Mistress Penny?"

In unison, Sheldon and Penny both shouted, "What?"

"I - I was joking, but I think I've hit a sore spot."

Howard immediately followed up with a well-timed, "That's what she said."

There was never a time when Howard didn't find that funny.

"I will have you know that I am not some sort of dominatrix and Sheldon is not my slave or whatever."

Leonard looked at Raj knowingly, "I thought you were crazy all those times, but now I'm not sure. They were pretty quick to refute that."

Raj nodded. It was obvious he was taking too much pride in possibly being right about this. "I told you. She's also starting to sound a little bit like him. 'I will have you know - ' Such a Sheldon thing to say."

The room fell oddly silent and Penny looked at Sheldon from her spot in the nearby chair and frowned. "I don't know, Sheldon. Maybe we should just confess. They’re our friends and they care about us, so maybe, we should just stop keeping this secret from him."

"Penny - no - we talked about this. We agreed that it was supposed to be between just us."

"And Bernadette."

Howard looked completely confused by this, like he couldn't figure out if Bernadette was having sex with them too or if she just knew about it.

Penny looked at Sheldon and then toward Bernadette who was also looking a little confused. "Come on, it's not that big of a deal. Right, Bernadette? What do you think?"

"I agree with you, Penny. It won't hurt anyone to know that you and Sheldon have been dating and -"

She paused mid-sentence and her eyes went wide as she squeaked out an embarrassed, "Oops. Sorry."

Penny tried not to grin too widely. Bernadette had played that perfectly. Penny was going to pay for all her drinks the next time they went out.

"It's okay. Raj had basically figured it out anyway. Yes, that's right everyone. Sheldon and I are a... couple. We care about each other very much."

It was partly true anyway. They were a couple. A couple of superheroes. And it was evident that they cared about each other. Just not in the way the others were thinking.

Penny reached across to lay her hand on top of Sheldon's and, to his credit, he didn’t flinch. But he did look down at her hand as if something wet and slimy had landed there. She gave him a subtle raise of one eyebrow and he did his best to soften his expression. "Isn't that right, Sheldon?"

Sheldon nodded slowly and kept staring at their hands. "Yes, yes, that's correct. Penny and I are very much in love."

She suddenly wished she was telepathic so she could mentally slap him for taking that a bit too far. But that was Sheldon for you. He was probably just repeating something he had heard in a movie. It didn't roll off his tongue easily, but as the guys were still staring at them in complete shock, they probably didn't notice.

Leonard looked a little green, with sickness and not with envy, as he questioned them, "When? Why? I mean - what - er - why keep it a secret?"

Sheldon exhaled loudly and Penny thought this was her moment to show off her acting skills. "We knew this was unexpected. To say the least. And we knew that nobody would ever think that two people like us would end up together. So we wanted to wait to tell you guys. Until we knew it was the real deal and not just some passing phase or crazy whim."

Howard muttered, "It's definitely crazy."

"We knew you would say that and yes, we know, it's unusual. But it works for us. Right, sweetie?"

Sheldon nodded and much to her surprise entwined his fingers with her. "It sure does -"

He looked like he was searching for some sort of pet name to call her in return but Penny gave him a quick shake of her head. A pet name coming off of Sheldon's tongue would have been completely unbelievable.

Raj was the only one (besides Bernadette) who didn't look at least a little disgusted by the idea of them together.

"Well, if you're both happy, then we're happy for you. Right guys?"

It was sweet. Raj was trying to be supportive no matter how weird things were. Leonard and Howard weren't good at hiding their own thoughts on the matter though. They both nodded curtly at Raj's words and Penny was thrilled that at least this had happened at the end of the night.

She noticed suddenly how warm and soft Sheldon's hand was around her own and how much his hand being there wasn’t bothering her at all. That was... nothing, absolutely nothing, and that line of thought was going to stop right there if she had her way.

Leonard looked at his watch and cleared his throat. Penny stifled a laugh and wondered why people always did that and still thought it wasn’t a completely obvious gesture. Looking at your watch was everyone’s exit route from an awkward situation.

"Well, it’s getting late and we should - we all have to - we should go. Leave these two alone. I guess?"

Leonard made several awkward hand gestures while he was talking to indicate that they should all exit and leave Sheldon and Penny alone to do things that he clearly didn’t want to visualize. Howard, Raj and Bernadette took that as their cue and stood up to leave.

Penny made sure to give Bernadette a quick hug and whispered her thanks for playing along as she did. Bernadette winked as they parted and when the door shut, she sighed in relief.

What was really odd about the whole thing was that as they had said their goodbyes, Sheldon had stayed close at her side and had even taken her hand again as they watched their friends head down the stairs.

As soon as she shut the door, she turned to face him and her eyes darted towards their hands. "You can let go now, you know."

She found she would have been okay if he hadn’t though. And she didn’t like that she felt that way either.

"Oh. Of course."

He moved his hand away as if her fingers had suddenly turned into a tarantula and Penny gave him an awkward smile.

"I hope you’re okay with this. I was just sick of all the weird sideways glances, and suspicions, and this was the only way I could think to shut them up."

"I understand. It’s undoubtedly better than the alternative."

"Exactly. Now maybe they’ll leave us alone."

He had something on his mind, something he wasn’t sharing, and she didn’t like it one bit. The color drained out of his face as he spoke, "But - one thing - there are certain expectations people have of couples. Behaviors. I may not have ever participated in them, but I am aware of what they are."

Penny shrugged it off like it wasn’t a big deal. "Sheldon, you’re not like other guys and everyone knows that. So if you aren’t interested in those, uhh, public behaviors, I don’t think anyone is going to be surprised by that."

"Do you actually think we can pull this off?"

"So far, so good. Hell, I spend more time with you these days than I did with any of my _real_ boyfriends, so that helps."

It wasn’t the _worst_ idea she had ever had. Not even close.

* * *


	3. Chapter 3

* * *

  


> I'm pretty sure I have completely strayed from discussing Sheldon's steps to becoming the ultimate superhero somehow. I don't evem think this is the right order.
> 
> And I might end up adding an extra step or two, by accident.
> 
> Hold on, let me check my notes.
> 
> Oh. Yeah. Way off.
> 
> But really, if you wanted the boring (but completely factual) version of this story you'd go directly to Sheldon.
> 
> Not that he'd give up anything besides the facts.
> 
> And that is what probably pisses me off about Sheldon Cooper more than anything else. We sort of had this relationship before the superpower thing where we were friends – begrudgingly. But now, we’re friends. Real and true friends who actually have to rely on each other. And he no longer feels the need to insult me once every hour (which is totally weird). But it's not like he ever expresses feelings about, well, anything. If he ever had any feelings to begin with. Trying to get in to his head was like trying to break into a bank vault, and unlike Sheldon, I can't walk through walls.
> 
> Sorry, getting off track again. Let's see, where was I?
> 
> Oh yeah. Sidekicks. Whatever.

  


* * *

 **Step Nine: Sidekick Schmidekick, Who Needs One?**

"Sheldon..."

"Hmmm."

He was leaning over their police scanner fiddling with the knobs while Penny played Minesweeper on one of the laptops. So maybe it wasn't the most productive use of a hero headquarters, but it wasn't like anything else was going on. This was the most action packed thing she had done in weeks.

"Do you think we need a sidekick?"

"Pardon?"

"You know, someone to, uhh, assist us. A plucky sidekick. Superheroes need a plucky sidekick, right?"

Sheldon sighed and looked away from the scanner to meet her eyes. "Did you read any of those comic books I gave you?"

"I read like the first three. And then I got distracted. So you're saying we don't need a sidekick? Bernadette could be a good sidekick. She's plucky, right?"

He sighed again. That was not a good sign. "We don't need a sidekick. We're building a team of superheroes and therefore we don't need a sidekick."

Penny looked at him doubtfully, "A team? There's only two of us. That's hardly a team."

"For now. Give it time."

That's when she realized his aspirations were even bigger than she thought. He wanted a team. The real world version of the X-Men where he could be their very own Professor X, except with more hair and working legs. But as far as she knew, they were still the only two people out there with superpowers. If anyone else had them, they were keeping it just as quiet as Sheldon and Penny had been.

"I still think you’re _my_ sidekick, Sheldon."

Sheldon's jaw visibly tightened and she knew instantly she had hit a nerve. They had never actually finished having this argument the last time she brought it up. "Hardly. If anything, you would be the sidekick in this duo."

"How do you figure?"

"I'm clearly the brains of this operation."

It didn't even feel like an insult. She knew that was true. So she just laughed and shook her head. "That may be true, but I'm invincible, Sheldon. INVINCIBLE. You can't beat that."

They spent the next thirty minutes arguing over who was better at this whole hero thing. Ultimately, they had to agree that no one was the sidekick.

Of course, until they actually did something useful with their abilities, no one was a superhero either.

* * *

  


> Don't worry. I know what you're thinking. It’s the same thing I’ve been thinking.
> 
> When the hell are these two going to do more than just sit around talking about shit?
> 
> I know. I know. I know. This isn't exactly the most action packed tale to be listening to.
> 
> I know how storytelling is supposed to work. I know about rise and fall. Three act structures. Denouement. All of that. I took a screenwriting class even.
> 
> Okay, it was an _online_ screenwriting class and I didn't actually finish it. Or do any of the homework. But I did read the materials. Some of them.
> 
> My point is if you want a well-structured story about a superhero, then go rent _The Dark Knight_ or something. (Although, even I can recognize some flaws in that third act. Come on.)
> 
> But if you want the truth - a real life story about how superheroes are made - then you stay right here.
> 
> This whole next entry? This is all about how I began to hate Clark Kent, and how sometimes you earn your hero title completely by accident.
> 
> Finally. Some action.

  


* * *

 **Step Ten: And Sometimes Danger Finds You...**

She hated to look a gift horse in the mouth. Really, she did. But part of her wished she had gotten super speed or the ability to fly along with these other abilities. Oh, she could run faster than she had before, but like the speed of a really talented track star and not faster than a speeding bullet.

They had their police scanner and computers, but by the time they actually made it to the scene of a crime, the whole thing was over. Penny had wanted to hit the streets to patrol, but Sheldon was taking way too long making their costumes and insisted they couldn't really do much without them.

She was itching for a fight though. And the thought of wearing a superhero costume on a day that wasn't Halloween was still way too weird to her.

So she waited. And waited. Then waited some more. But nothing happened.

If she was Superman, she could have zipped off or flown to crimes as soon as they happened. But she was just Penny.

And she was beginning to think Superman was an asshole.

Sheldon just said she was jealous. She hated when he was right.

She was sick of waiting for something to happen. Sick of waiting around the apartment and doing absolutely nothing. The only good thing was that she and Sheldon got along better now than they ever had. But she was still getting a little sick of being cooped up with him in a room that seemed to get smaller with each passing day.

So one night she walked into his apartment and announced that she was going out and if any emergency came up (which they never did), he could call or text. Before Sheldon had a chance to protest, she turned around, marched out of his apartment and down the stairs.

Penny realized it had been way too long since she had gone out and had a drink with Bernadette and Amy so she told them to meet her at a bar a few blocks away.

Halfway through her fourth daiquiri she realized something else. Her new advanced metabolism meant she wasn't feeling tipsy at all. No buzz to be found anywhere. Her face wasn't even feeling warm like it did after a drink or two.

Well, this officially sucked. She was already feeling like the worst superhero of all time, and now she couldn't even drown her sorrows in alcohol.

Penny wanted to bang her head on the table but since she couldn't feel pain, it would have been a pointless gesture anyway.

"Guys. I'm sorry, but I gotta go. I'm just not feeling it."

That was her polite way of saying that this flat out sucked.

Amy looked both surprised and concerned. "Do you need us to get a taxi for you?"

"No, no. I'm fine. I just - I need to get out of here."

She didn't want to explain herself. Couldn't have even if she had wanted to. She was sure she'd get phone calls from both in the morning, but Amy didn't know the truth about her so only Bernadette would understand.

Penny grabbed her purse, bid her friends goodbye, and then stepped out into the crisp cool night air. A year ago, she wouldn't have walked home alone this late at night. Not even if she was drunk and her judgment impaired would she been dumb enough to do that.

But these days, she couldn't find a criminal when she was trying, so she figured she'd make it the three blocks home without any trouble.

She was wrong.

Halfway home, she heard some muffled sounds that made her hair stand on end. She looked across the mostly empty street and saw a young couple being forced into an alley by a very shady looking character with a gun in his hand.

If there had been other people walking by, they might not have noticed, but Penny definitely did.

She acted on pure instinct, darting across a street that was luckily devoid of passing cars. Penny wasn't even sure what she was going to do when she got there but this was the moment she had trained for and she was ready.

The couple on the other side of the gun was quickly trying to empty their pockets while the man continued to wave his gun at them. Penny tapped him on the shoulder with one finger and cheerfully said, "Excuse me sir!"

"What the hell?" He muttered as he turned to look at her.

"I'm sorry to interrupt, but I'm going to have to ask you to drop that gun."

He was definitely confused and probably hadn't meant to shoot at her, but the gun went off and the bullet went right into her shoulder. Penny didn't react except for a frustrated sigh.

The bullet popped out of the wound almost instantly and her skin closed up with only a few drops of blood spilled. But it left an ugly blackened hole in her new top. Now she understood another reason Sheldon insisted on costumes.

"Okay. I was going to be nice about this. But I just bought this shirt and I really like it. So now I'm pissed."

The mugger didn't know how to react to this. He just stood in front of her, mouth open in shock and all the color draining out of his face.

"Seriously, buddy. Just drop the gun."

She waited, hoping he would actually listen this time, but he didn't move an inch. Penny understood. It wasn't every day that you shot someone and they treated it like it wasn't even as bad as a bee sting.

"Okay, but I'm warning you. This is definitely going to hurt you more than it hurts me."

She was going to have to work on her snarky superhero one-liners, but there wasn't time to worry about that now. Penny easily knocked the gun out of his hands and as it clattered to the ground, it woke up the thief just in time.

Now he was fighting back but Penny easily blocked every attempt he made at hitting, kicking or tackling her. It seemed to only take a few seconds before her first was connecting with his face and he was knocked out and on the ground.

Even Penny was a little surprised by this. And impressed. No matter how hard you train, you never really know how it's going to be in the real world. It felt damn good.

She couldn't help a quick grin as she looked down at the man on the ground and then looked over at the couple. They were wearing identical expressions of shock mixed with relief.

The woman spoke first, "Oh - oh my God - how did you - you -"

"Are you both okay? Nobody's injured?"

They both nodded and Penny stopped to try and figure out what was supposed to come next. She was sure they had gone over this at some point but damned if she could remember what Sheldon had said. Instinct finally took over and she spoke again, "Call the police."

The man nodded and started dialing. His phone was already in his hand because he had been ready to hand it over to their attacker when Penny showed up.

"Who are you?" The woman spoke again, this time a little less shaky than she had been before.

"Listen. I can't stay. And you can't tell anyone I was here or what I look like or any of that. Please? Just don't tell the police?"

"You saved our lives. I think we owe you that much. But - what do we tell them if we can’t tell the truth?"

Penny looked down at the guy on the ground and then back up to the couple. "I don't know. Just tell them you had a rush of adrenaline and took him out. Or tell them a good Samaritan helped you but they left. Trust me, he's going to think he dreamed all of this when he wakes up. And no one will ever believe that he shot a woman and she didn't even get injured."

The man was giving their location to the dispatcher on the phone and the woman nodded in understanding. It was a story too crazy to be real and Penny knew if they told the truth the cops would just think they were nuts.

"I'm really sorry I have to leave like this. But, you understand, right?"

"Yeah. Uhm, yeah, I think so. I just - thank you. Thank you so much."

"Not a problem."

Penny turned and took a few steps before she thought of something else. She looked over her shoulder and saw that the male half of the couple was no longer on the phone. "Just one thing before I go."

He looked confused but muttered a response, "Sure. Anything."

"How did I do? I mean, was I okay? I know the one-liners probably need some work. But overall, what do you think? A solid seven out of ten, maybe?"

As soon as she asked she knew it was an incredibly awkward question. But it wasn't like she went to superhero school where they gave you report cards. If Sheldon had been here, he probably would have been able to write up a full evaluation of what she had done right and wrong, but he wasn't.

The couple looked completely flummoxed by her questioning and Penny cringed. "Uhh. Never mind. I’m sorry."

She gave them a bright smile before turning back around and jogging down the street, just as she could hear the sirens coming in the distance.

Penny was still high on adrenaline and it felt like she practically flew up all four flights of stairs before she landed on Sheldon's doorstep. She thought about using her key but knocked instead. As she waited for Sheldon to answer, she bounced back and forth on her feet with excitement.

She was surprised that he was still awake but when he answered the door he was still in his regular clothes and looked completely alert. "Penny? What's going on? Did you realize that maybe the work we're doing here is more important than going out and imbibing?"

Penny laughed. "Wait. Did I just step into the 1920s? Who even says imbibing anymore?"

She walked past him and in to the apartment, grinning all the while. "Sheldon, something amazing happened on the way home. Though I suppose it wasn't amazing for the people who I saved or the guy that I knocked out, but it was pretty amazing for me."

He looked confused so Penny told him the entire story in just a few minutes, pacing back and forth in the living room as words spilled out of her faster than any normal human brain could keep up with them. Good thing Sheldon wasn't normal.

Sheldon listened with rapt attention and when she ended the story, he nodded, his facial expression one of complete seriousness. "And you're okay?"

"No, Sheldon. I'm fantastic. I'm great. I'm amazing. It was the greatest rush. To be out there, helping people and stopping bad guys. Don't get me wrong, I'm a little pissed that my shirt was ruined, but it was worth it. It was completely worth it. And then the first thought I had after was that I had to come here. I had to tell you. Someone that would understand."

He nodded again and it was really starting to bug her that she couldn't figure out what he was thinking. Was he excited for her? Worried? Something else?

"I'm glad you're okay."

Well, that was _something_. She didn't know what it was, but it was something.

"Wait, were you actually worried about me? Me? You? Worried about _me_?"

Sheldon tried to direct his gaze at any spot that wasn't her face and Penny couldn't help but smirk. She took a few steps so that she was closer to him, probably closer than Sheldon preferred, and continued speaking, "That's actually kind of sweet. But - I'm invincible. Remember?"

"Of course. But I -"

"Say no more."

She understood it perfectly this time. And she didn't need to be a telepath to get it. Despite years of antagonizing each other, Sheldon cared. Even though she could take a bullet like it was nothing, he still didn't want to see anything happen to her.

These days he had become her best friend, as weird as that thought was. And maybe she was his too. They were the only two people in the world who could understand what each other was going through. That much was certain.

"Sheldon, this is about to get a lot more awkward, but you're just going to need to shut up and deal with it this one time."

"What?"

Before he could protest she threw her arms around his neck and embraced him. It took him a moment, but to her surprise his arms wrapped around her in return and held her tightly. It was still a little off, but not even close to as awkward as the hugs they had shared in their past, long before all of this had happened.

The only thing weird about them these days was that things weren't that weird anymore.

* * *

  


> You bet I’m going to gloss over this whole hug thing and any underlying meaning that you may or may not be able to read into. This is my story about becoming a superhero, not some sort of incredibly slow-moving romance novel. I mean, really slow. Snails would look at the pace of whatever-the-hell was going on with our friendship and say, "Speed it up, you two!"
> 
> At this point, Sheldon has decided that one incident of people seeing my face as I was saving their lives was one time too many. So he decided to speed up the whole costume process.
> 
> I reminded him that even if our costumes had been finished, I was walking home from a bar and wouldn't have been wearing it underneath anyway. So he told me I should keep a mask in my purse. Just in case.
> 
> That guy has a solution for everything. Sometimes they are ridiculous solutions, but at least he's thinking.
> 
> Okay. Fine. Let's go back to that hugging thing.
> 
> Something they only allude to in the comic books (well, the four that I actually read) is how lonely it is when you're special. There's always a part of you that you have to keep hidden from the rest of the world. But when you have a friend who has the same problem you do, well, you're bound to grow closer, right?
> 
> That's what I keep telling myself anyway. That hug wasn't romantic. The thought of it is beyond ridiculous. But it was... something. Sheldon is still Sheldon and prickly as can be, but he treats me with respect now, more than he ever has before. And not just because some random gene of mine decided to mutate and make me special. He respects the way I’m handling it all. That I take it in stride or whatever. It’s actually a quality of mine that was there long before that gene decided to mutate.
> 
> As for me, I guess I’m seeing that maybe Sheldon isn’t as annoying as he used to be. Oh, he’s still totally annoying. No doubt. But I do realize how lucky I am that he’s around and there’s no way I could do all of this alone. Well, maybe I could. I just wouldn’t want to.
> 
> Whatever that means. I still don't know.
> 
> But at least we have costumes now.

  


* * *

 **Step Eleven: Dress the Part**

Penny turned and twisted her body, attempting to catch every angle in the bathroom mirror. If she were just going to wear this to go buy milk, she would have looked like a crazy person. But for beating up bad guys and saving lives, it looked pretty awesome.

She had begged Sheldon for shorts, but he had refused. Even after a twenty minute argument in which she reminded him that her skin didn't need to be protected from anything, he still refused. But maybe he had been right. It did look good after all.

It wasn't spandex (her choice), and it wasn't leather (budgetary concerns), but it was kind of a fake leather. Sturdy but sleek, she would say. And her request had been that it was in two pieces, because nobody wants to zip down a one-piece jumpsuit when you have to pee. So it was a midnight blue jacket with grey accents that zipped up the front, and pants that matched with hidden pockets for things like cellphones and whatever else they needed to carry. Oh, and a mask in the same color of midnight blue that covered their eyes.

She had no idea where he had found these boots, but not only did they match the outfit: they were the most comfortable things she had on her feet in years. Penny was afraid to ask about them because she thought it highly possible that he had hired a cobbler to custom make them. Or maybe even elves.

Penny walked out in to the living room and saw that Sheldon was already in his matching costume and waiting for her.

"Wow. Sheldon..."

He looked at her curiously and she stepped closer to inspect, something that made him obviously uncomfortable.

"You look, well, you look _good_. The jacket, the pants, it all looks like you've actually got some muscle definition going on."

He looked down at himself and shrugged. "That sounds vaguely like a compliment."

"Take it as you will."

"You also look - "

Penny waited with eyebrows raised as he hesitated to finish his sentence. It wasn't like Sheldon to compliment anyone on their physical appearance, therefore she wasn't expecting much. So when it seemed like he was never going to get to that end of that sentence, she finished it for him with a wink, "Hot. I know. I look really hot."

He nodded and Penny felt her face flush suddenly. So he hadn't actually said it, but he hadn't disagreed. Somewhere in there he had meant it, and why did she suddenly feel like she was fifteen again? It was too much to think about so she sat down on the couch with a sigh.

"Not that it matters. It's not like superheroes get a social life anyway."

"Not entirely true. Superman has Lois Lane. Peter Parker had Mary Jane Watson and Gwen Stacy. Green Arrow married Black Canary. Jean Grey had Cyclops. Rogue has Gambit."

"Rogue can't even touch Gambit."

Sheldon blinked in complete surprise and Penny continued, "Yes, I actually read one of those. It was in the stack you gave me. You know, you can name all these fictional relationships, but none of them actually had an easy way to go."

Sheldon took his usual spot on the couch and nodded in agreement. "True. But, there are sometimes sacrifices you have to make when you have a calling. And we have a calling."

She sighed softly. It had been months since she had even been on a date, but it hadn't bothered her at all. For the first time in her life, she was doing something that mattered and she didn't care if she had a boyfriend.

Not until her brain (and other parts of her) started whispering that maybe Sheldon looked kind of attractive in that superhero costume. And that sometimes he maybe even kind of looked attractive in his layers of t-shirts and that horrible two-toned jacket that reminded Penny of her Uncle Bert.

It only got worse when Sheldon looked at her the way he had tonight. But she had to remind herself that it was _Sheldon_ and you can't interpret those looks the way you would with other guys. For all she knew, he was admiring the craftsmanship of her outfit and not the way she fit in to it. That was actually way more likely than the alternative.

"By the way, the costumes came out great. Did you hire someone to make these?"

"Of course not. I made them myself."

"Shut. Up. You did not."

Sheldon glanced over at her with a rare smile. "Of course I did. I've made plenty of costumes for cosplaying before."

She gave him a smile in return as she smoothed down the bottom of her jacket. "I know. But these are really extraordinary. Where did you learn to sew anyway?"

"I started when I was nine. My meemaw and I made my first Starfleet uniform together while the other kids were out riding bikes and playing sports."

"I never learned how to sew. I was too busy riding bikes and playing sports."

His face always changed when he spoke of his meemaw, it was softer and less angular, and somehow sweeter. And it made her think thoughts about Sheldon that she didn't want to have.

Yeah. This was starting to be a real problem. One she was going to have to stamp out as soon as possible.

* * *

  


> Remember earlier when I said that if this was a movie there would have been a training montage? Well, now we’re at the part where we’d have a second montage. One in which you see your two heroes patrolling the streets for crime and fighting bad guys.
> 
> Not supervillains mind you. I’m pretty sure we’re not ready for that even if we knew where to find an actual supervillain. This was just your basic carjackers, muggers and other creepy characters.
> 
> Sheldon hads found a way to hack into the city's computers and get emergency dispatches sent to his cellphone. (I don’t ask questions, because honestly, I don’t want to know.) So we get there fast, sometimes faster than the police, and sometimes we assist the police when we get there and then dash away before they can ask our names.
> 
> Sometimes we just stumble upon a crime in progress, just like I had that night on the way home.
> 
> I know I am supposed to be forgetting about whatever odd stirrings I have been feeling in regards to Sheldon lately, but well, you should see him in action.
> 
> That man is full of surprises.

  


* * *

 **Step Twelve: The Fine Line Between Heroism & Vigilantism**

She knew she was supposed to be paying attention to something else. Like maybe the guy coming at her with a knife, but she couldn't take her eyes off of Sheldon. He had gone from this gangly, awkward geek to a guy who could actually kick some ass. His mutated DNA gave him strength and agility he had never had before, and it had paid off. He was fighting off the second attacker like he was swatting a fly.

As if she needed anything else to make her think about Sheldon in ways that were completely inappropriate. It wasn't even the X-Rated kind of inappropriate (except that one time that she really tried not to think about). It was something else entirely. She couldn't even explain it to herself but she knew it had to stop.

The attacker she had been tussling with had made a move to slash at her and she ducked just in time. Her mind might have been somewhere else but her body knew what to do at least.

She took him out with a quick knock to the head and didn't even bother to watch him crumple to the ground unconscious before turning her gaze back to Sheldon. He had gotten so good at controlling his own abilities that he could shift from solid to not-solid with the blink of an eye. In his phased state, he was just as invincible as she was.

He had learned a new trick too. One that sounded creepy and gross but was completely effective. If he phased his fingertips through someone's forehead, he could knock them unconscious without any pain or lasting bruises. And that's exactly what he did to this guy.

"God, Sheldon, that would have come in so handy when you were growing up, I bet."

He nodded in agreement as he quickly called the police on a cellphone he had hacked to make it untraceable. All those years of bullying could have been stopped if only he had mutated earlier in life. That was a pretty powerful thing to think about.

Penny had felt empowered too. She remembered a time not so long ago when she would have been terrified to walk alone at night but now she knew she could handle almost anything.

They waited until they heard the police sirens and then quickly ducked down a side street to continue their patrol.

For two people so seemingly opposite, they had more in common than they ever expected. At least the important things.

That's another thing that was bugging her.

"Hey, I can have a night off every now and then, right?"

"Of course."

Penny carefully watched his face to see if his expression would change when she told him why she was asking. "Good, good. Because one of the stunt guys I've been working with asked me out for Saturday. And I - I want to go."

Nothing. Not even the slightest muscle twitch. That gave her the answer she was looking for. Sheldon was definitely not interested in her. Or he had the greatest poker face of all time. Either way, it was time for her to put this silly crush out of her mind. That's all it was. A stupid crush.

"That's fine. Just keep your cellphone on in case something big comes up."

"Of course. Of course I will."

Definitely just a crush, and not a reciprocated one either. She remembered when she worked on her first school play in tenth grade, she wasn't in the play but she worked on painting the backdrops and props next to a guy name Sean. They spent nearly every day together for a month and at some point, she developed a massive crush on the guy. But when the play was over, it went away as quick as it arrived. Her sister had told her it was a proximity thing, not really based on real feelings. It just happened because they were around each other so much and hadn't meant a thing.

So that's what this thing with Sheldon had to be. She couldn't possibly have real feelings for him. It was just the closest male to her that she spent most of her time with. And a date with a new guy would probably work wonders to make that go away.

It was getting late so they walked back to their apartment in silence until Sheldon's phone beeped at him. He retrieved it from his jacket pocket and responded to whatever he was reading with a confusing, "Hmmmm."

"What? What is it?"

"Word is getting around."

"About?"

"Us. I have an app that alerts me when news articles come up with certain keywords. Apparently, the newspaper just posted an article to their website about potential vigilante heroes here in the city."

"Oh. I kinda resent that vigilante thing."

"It's the truth."

Penny frowned at him. "I guess. But it just sounds... bad."

Sheldon had to agree with her there and nodded thusly as he tucked his phone back into his pocket. "You know what this means, then."

"No, no, I don't."

"We need better publicity."

Right. Because ‘superhero publicist’ was something you could just look up in a phone book.

* * *


	4. Chapter 4

* * *

  


> I wasn’t kidding when I said I didn’t finish that screenwriting class. Because what I thought was going to be a cool superhero origin story is now just a mess of a superhero story about a woman with her brain all twisted up.
> 
> But something has to be done. So I am going to try. I’m really really going to try. No more stupid crushes.

  


* * *

 **Step Whatever: It’s Not Really a Step, It’s an Interlude**

On a scale of one to perfect, Jason was pretty much perfect. He was handsome, he was funny, he was nice and not in that "I’m nice so you should have sex with me" way that was creepy. No, he was just genuinely nice.

In a lot of ways, he was everything that Sheldon wasn’t. Penny thought it was the perfect way to prove that whatever weird feelings Sheldon was giving her lately (and they were definitely weird) was just a result of the situation they had been thrown in to.

If she had a list of what she was looking for in a guy, Jason hit every single point.

He didn’t even notice that she checked her cellphone for messages from Sheldon at least a dozen times during dinner. Or if he did, he never pointed it out.

He might have noticed that her breath caught in her throat at the sound of a police siren flying by while they were out walking after their meal.

He definitely noticed that when he kissed her goodnight outside her front door she didn't quite react in the way he expected.

It wasn't that he was bad at the kissing thing, he was damn good. And it wasn't that she didn't like him, but there was just something she needed to know before she could take this any further.

He broke off the kiss and Penny sighed sadly.

"You're not really here, are you?"

"I'm sorry. I am so, so, _so_ sorry. And it's not that I don't like you. It’s just – I’m so stupid – and I have something else on my mind.

Jason nodded knowingly, "Something. Or someone?"

Penny frowned and he let her slide out of his arms so she could lean against her apartment door. "Ugh. It's horrible. And stupid. And weird. And it makes no sense at all. It's the least likely match in the history of relationships. He doesn't even date. Like _ever_. I mean, there was that time he tried to date Amy, but that just never worked. And, I don't even like him. I mean, I didn't, but...shit. I'm sorry. You probably don't want to hear about all of this."

"You have to get this guy out of your head."

"No shit. I've tried. But the sneaky bastard keeps climbing his way back in. Listen, I am really sorry. You are awesome. Honestly. And if I ever break this stupid spell I'm under, you'll be the first person I call. But you probably shouldn’t even bother answering the phone if I do. You deserve a girl who isn't completely insane and who would never end up with feelings for some guy she used to barely be able to be around."

"You are very complicated, aren't you?"

Penny laughed and looked down at the floor. "I didn’t used to be."

Jason nodded and smiled back at her. "Well, then, good night. And good luck sorting this out."

She gave him a weak smile and watched him until he disappeared down the stairs. Her first date in months and her own brain had ruined everything.

No, scratch that, Sheldon Cooper had ruined everything. She was going to blame him for everything if she could.

Penny was about to unlock her door when she decided she had to do something about this and used her spare key to head into Sheldon's apartment instead. He wasn't there. Probably out on patrol, of course. Without her. Knowing him, he would probably make some snide remark about enjoying the silence with her gone.

Whatever. Jerk.

Even when she tried to hate him, tried to remember all the times that he had pissed her off, she couldn't quite get there. Things had been too good lately. Too right.

Penny slipped off her shoes and curled up on his couch. She planned on waiting there until he got home, however late that was going to be.

It was well after two in the morning when she was woken up by his voice saying her name softly. She shifted on the couch uncomfortably and mumbled blearily, "I know. I'm in your spot."

"What are you doing here?"

Her eyes snapped open and she slowly sat up with a stretch and a loud yawn. "I wanted to talk to you. So I came here after my date."

"And?"

"How was patrol tonight?"

Skirting the issue? Check.

"Mostly mundane. Grabbed a couple of vandals, but otherwise it was a slow night. Why are you here?"

She was usually really good at this. You just grab a guy, tell him you like him, and then plant one on him. But this was Sheldon and she had no idea how he would react to her usual method. So she decided to go with the stand-up-pace-and-babble method that was becoming her new thing.

Sheldon stood still and watched her walk back and forth in front of the coffee table. His face was, as usual, completely unreadable and to Penny - completely annoying.

"I had a date tonight. As you know. And he was great. Perfect really. It would have been the best date I've been on in years if it wasn't for something else. I was distracted. And I kept checking my phone for messages from you. I was thinking about things - and you. Mostly you. Then he kissed me, and I - well - it was off. It wasn't the way it should have been. And now I feel entirely stupid, but you have to understand - I can’t go on like this. I can’t focus on anything, not even when we’re out patrolling together. It’s driving me nuts."

Sheldon's face was still blank. She saw maybe the tiniest bit of confusion, but that was all she could get out of him. Of course, she was standing there asking him to understand something that even she couldn’t understand.

"I came over here to do something that will probably make us very uncomfortable. Both of us. And maybe you'll never want to speak to me again after this, but I don't know, because I can’t read you at all. Sometimes I wish telepathy was my power because I never have any idea what you're thinking."

Now he looked worried. That one she got. "What do you want to do?"

Penny took a deep breath in and stepped closer to him so that they were just inches apart. "Normally, any other guy, I would just do it and not warn you. But I don't want you to hate me. We need each other because of these stupid powers we've been given. So I'm going to kiss you and if that's not okay, you need to tell me right now."

"Why?"

"So I can _not_ kiss you if you don't want me to."

"That's not what I meant. I meant - why do you want to kiss me?"

Perplexed. Score another facial expression she could read.

"I don't actually know. I just know that I do."

"Oh. Okay then." He made a hand motion indicating that she should go ahead before saying, "Proceed then, I guess."

"Really?"

"If it will make you feel better."

Not the most romantic invitation she had ever had, but it would do for now. Penny slid her hands up the front of his jacket and rested them at the base of his neck. She had to go up slightly on her toes to reach him but she wasted no time in pressing her lips to his. This might be the only time they were going to kiss, and it was probably the only time Sheldon had kissed someone with actual experience, so she was going to make it a good one.

For a moment it was a little bit like kissing a statue. A warm statue that smelled vaguely of - well something she couldn't quite nail down - but it was a shockingly clean smell for someone who had been roaming the streets for hours.

She started to worry that this was going to be it. That he was just letting her kiss him to get it over with and that he wasn't going to give anything back. But just as her body tensed with worry, his arms slid around her waist and pulled her closer. It wasn't smooth, it was awkward as hell, but it was incredibly endearing.

His lips began to move to and he was finally kissing her back. It reminded her of first kisses with teenage boys who didn't know quite where your lips and tongue were supposed to go. But it made her heart stamp out a crazy rhythm all the same.

It was slow, but nice, and she didn't want it to stop. She held on to it as long as she could in case it was their first and last, and Sheldon surprised her by matching her intensity. Well, maybe not matching exactly, but he did his best to keep up and it was much more than she could have expected from him.

He was the one who broke it off and when he did, Penny had to force herself to let go of him and she took a quick jump backwards.

Her fingers flew to her lips and she looked up at Sheldon. Penny knew she was blushing and she felt embarrassed that she was suddenly acting like a teenager fretting over a boy. A stupid stupid boy.

"So? Do you know now? Whatever you needed to know?"

God, she wanted to hate him. She wanted to roll her eyes and punch him in the arm. Of course, even if she had punched him, he would just phase and her fist would pass right through him as usual.

"Well, you let me kiss you, so that's something. I guess. But Sheldon, I can't read your mind. I don't know if you liked it, or hated it, or you never want to speak to me again."

"I suppose it was an interesting enough experiment -"

"Rude."

"Allow me to continue. I would not be opposed to attempting it again in the future."

She suddenly felt like she weighed the approximate weight of a feather. Whatever that weight might be. Relief washed over her and she smiled broadly. "Like...right now? Or later? Tomorrow later? Or like, five years from now later? You have to be specific here."

"You have to realize that I don’t have the experience or knowledge of relationships that many of my contemporaries do. I'm no Leonard."

Penny tried to stifle a giggle by clapping her hand over her mouth, but it came out anyway. "Oh, honey, I know. And believe me, I know this is going to be weird. For both of us. But I mean, this is okay, right? You and me. There's something there. I'm not insane for seeing that, am I?"

"No, I don’t believe you’re insane. But you have to understand that this is going to be very complicated."

She laughed softly and this time gave him a gentle kiss on the cheek before backing away. "That's fine by me. If I had wanted a simple life, I would have stayed in Nebraska."

It was late and she was tired somewhere underneath all of the other feelings she was having in that moment. So she made her way to the door and he rewarded her with a genuine smile before she left. A rare sight, for sure, but one of her favorite ones.

* * *

  


> I know, I know. But don’t criticize until you’ve walked a mile in my ass-kicking superhero boots, okay?
> 
> It’s awkward and at least five kinds of wrong and maybe I acted like a rambling idiot about it, but it had to happen.
> 
> I was even going to leave all the kissing and mushy crap out of my supposedly ass-kicking superhero story, but most superhero stories have romance, right? So what that it's totally weird and unconventional, and believe me I don't totally understand it either, but it happened and it's good.
> 
> And hey, this is a journal, not a comic book anyway. I’m supposed to babble about all these stupid tingly feelings and whatever.
> 
> But back to the story. The rest of the story.
> 
> Sheldon keeps reminding me that we need publicity if we ever want to be real superheroes. The good kind. Which meant we need names, and maybe a journalist to help get those names out there. Not the easiest things to figure out.

  


* * *

 **Step I-Don't-Know-I-Lost-Count: It's All in the Name**

It was one of those ideas that comes to you at four in the morning. Sometimes when you're slowly shuffling into the bathroom, it hits you. And it feels like a stroke of genius. Of course, at that hour of night, everything sounds better than it really is.

But this idea stuck. And when she popped over to Sheldon's apartment the next morning for breakfast, she greeted him with a brief kiss (they were still taking it slow, super super slow) and a big smile.

"I've got it."

"What's that?"

She pointed to herself and said, "Infinity."

Then she pointed to him and grinned, "Phaser."

"Hmmm. Not bad."

"I wonder if it should be Phaser with a z. No, no, no. Just regular Phaser with an s. Pretty good, right?"

He nodded as he thought about it and she watched him closely as he repeated the two words a few times. "I think it will work."

"Yessssssssss. Finally. I was getting so sick of trying out names that ended in 'girl' or 'woman' or whatever. I like the one-word title. Gets right to the point, you know."

"So it's time then?"

"I think so."

"Then follow me."

Penny glanced back at the breakfast on the table that he had made for both of them. "Can I bring my waffle?"

Sheldon frowned at her. "Into our headquarters with our expensive equipment that could be destroyed by maple syrup? No."

Penny pouted but followed him anyway. He didn't know it but when he was out and she was alone in their tech room, she ate all the time. One time she came really close to spilling her Jamba Juice all over the police scanner, but her superpowered instincts were sharp and she was able to grab it just in time.

"It's rude to separate a woman from her waffle, you know."

"I'll make you a fresh one if I need to. But this is more important."

"Right. Higher calling. Saving the world. Blah blah blah."

Sheldon sat at the laptop and she watched over his shoulder as he opened up an e-mail account that he had set up for them. He had explained once how he had the IP addresses re-direct to somewhere in Nepal so no one could trace their location, but she had only half-listened as usual.

Since the first article about possible vigilantes in Pasadena had sprung up, it had been a constant feature on Southern California news sites and blogs. No one had known where they came from. Just that they showed up and stopped crime nearly every night of the week.

There had been editorials from people condemning their form of vigilantism, but also a groundswell of support. One reporter, a blogger for the Los Angeles Times by the name of Karen Kincaid had been their biggest supporter. Plus, Sheldon said he had an appreciation for the quality of her writing and that her foray into online journalism hadn't turned her into an idiot who only wrote in internet slang. That was important.

So they had contacted her directly. Gave her information, though not too much. And one night when someone snapped a blurry cellphone picture of them, Penny grabbed the phone and told them who to send it to. It was Sheldon's idea that they should just go with the publicity and not hide from it entirely. As long as no one knew their real names or where they lived, it would be fine.

Penny thought he was secretly hoping that this would help them find others just like them. But Penny worried that one day she'd be walking down the street and the CIA would drop a giant net over her head and kidnap her so they could test her mutant DNA. She didn't know if that was even the CIA's thing or some other agency, and she was sure the giant net thing came directly out of a cartoon, but still, she worried.

Karen had wanted to name them, but they insisted on taking care of themselves. It had taken them forever to come up with a decent name, even though they started trying long before they became a fixture in the local media. Now they had it and they were ready to e-mail her.

Sheldon typed a few simple sentences and included their cool new superhero names along with it. Penny was more than a little proud of herself for coming up with them.

He hit send and then wheeled the chair around to face her. "Now that we got past that hurdle, I believe it's time to take things to the next level."

"What things? Our fake relationship? Our actual relationship? What?"

Of course the fake relationship was still going on. But it was at a different level than the actual relationship they were involved in. The real relationship was moving one baby step at a time. One slow agonizing step at a time. Agonizing for Penny as she wasn’t used to this, but she was learning to deal with it. The fake relationship, according to their friends, had taken plenty of leaps.

She was considering asking Sheldon to make a chart just so she could keep the real relationship and the fake relationship and the secret identities all sorted out.

"Neither. I meant, with our superhero work. We have to make a bigger splash. Stopping petty crime is perfectly acceptable, but we need something bigger."

"Please tell me you're not doing this just to be famous, are you?"

"Of course not. But you can't really call yourself a superhero until you've done something really huge. A test. Some sort of trial."

Okay, so he didn't want the fame, but she knew he wanted more than what they had, whatever that meant. "Do you have something in mind?"

"As a matter of fact I do."

Sheldon began to pull up some news articles on the video monitors and Penny felt her stomach flip-flop in a not-so-nice way. It wasn't that she was afraid of doing bigger things. She was just worried they were going to get in too deep and ruin everything.

* * *

  


> Okay, I realize at this point I probably should be questioning some of Sheldon’s methods and ideas.
> 
> It's not that I don't trust him. I do. He would never intentionally put us in danger.
> 
> But where he is getting his information from worries me. He has turned in to quite the hacker and suddenly he’s showing me information that I'm not even sure the FBI would have.
> 
> There have been rumblings underground (wherever that was) about some major heist in the biggest bank vault in the city. I don't know how he knew and I was afraid to ask. I'm pretty sure criminals don't have message boards where they talk about what they're going to steal next. And they definitely don’t tweet about it.
> 
> Either way, Sheldon figures if we get into the vault before the bad guys do, then we can stop them and it will make much bigger headlines than just dumping small time criminals into the lap of law enforcement.
> 
> And since Sheldon can walk through walls, this is all a lot easier than it sounds. He even knows when this thing is going down.
> 
> Again, I didn't ask. Maybe he found their lair (see, when you're a villain it IS a lair), walked through their walls and bugged the place. I didn't ask. I didn't really _want_ to know. Sheldon is brilliant, but a little bit terrifying too.
> 
> In the future, I swear I'll ask. But for now, I’m just going with it.

  


* * *

 **Step Lucky Thirteen: How to Make National News**

It was almost too easy. But when your partner can walk through walls, even thick ones made of solid steel, it's really easy to step right in to any bank vault in the world. This was one reason people couldn't know Sheldon's real identity. Because a guy who could walk in to any building was a pretty dangerous guy.

Not that you can even handcuff him because he'll just phase right out of those too.

They watched the bank for days before it was supposed to happen. Sheldon noted the patterns and methods of the nighttime security and hacked into the camera feeds as well.

Penny contributed by making references to how this was kind of like that movie where Nicolas Cage stole the Declaration of Independence before the bad guy (aka "that dude who bites it in the first _Lord of the Rings_ movie" in Penny's words) could get it and use it for evil.

Sometimes she felt like she was just the "muscle" of the duo. Sheldon had his own skills, but Penny was still stronger and more agile than he was, and a lot quicker too. She was actually decent at strategizing, but she let Sheldon do all the heavy lifting when it came to the smart stuff.

It was all supposed to happen on a Wednesday, well after midnight. So they made it a point to get there at least an hour before it was supposed to happen.

Sheldon had studied the security system and shut off the security cameras. It was too simple. He just held her hand and walked through a few walls and down a few corridors until they were safely in the vault together.

He had brought a small laptop with him so he could monitor the systems and once they were in the vault, he turned the cameras back on so the person monitoring them would think it was just a temporarily glitch. He also looped twenty seconds of old footage to make it look like the room they were in was totally empty.

Penny looked at the walls around her with dozens of shiny metal doors that could only be opened with thumbprints or special codes. There was probably millions in untold treasures behind those doors. And if her or Sheldon were the least bit wicked, they could have easily taken whatever they wanted. But that wasn't what they were here for.

"So now what do we do?"

"Wait. I'm not entirely sure how this guy plans to break in here but I'm hacked into the security system so we should know it when he gets here."

"What do you think he wants to steal?"

Sheldon sat the laptop down on the counter that sat in the middle of the room. "Everything."

Penny grinned and jumped up to sit on the counter. "Nice plan."

Sheldon's habit of being perfectly on time for everything sometimes translated into a habit of being extremely early for everything. If only their relationship had progressed further by then, she would have suggested passing the time in a more R-rated manner. But it hadn't. It was strictly PG and slowly moving towards PG-13. Besides, it wasn't exactly hero-like to fool around while you wait for the enemy to show up.

The wait seemed to last forever. And if there had been any cellphone reception in the vault, she would have messed around on her iPhone to pass the time. Or something. Sheldon was too busy staring at his laptop to entertain her, so she yawned and shifted uncomfortably on the counter.

"You must have the best Wi-Fi connection in all of history, because I can't even get a single bar on my phone."

"I have it bouncing off a government satellite."

"Our government?"

"Not exactly."

Penny leaned over so she could kiss him on the cheek. "I don't know whether I find this part of you scary or sexy."

Sheldon blinked a few times and looked away from her so he wouldn't blush too much. He was still getting used to her saying things like that and half of the reason she said them was because his reactions were so endearing to her.

Penny yawned and stretched again just as the lights in the vault began to flicker. This made her jump to her feet immediately while Sheldon frantically tapped at the keys of his laptop which was now showing him a blank screen.

"Uhh. Sheldon, what the hell is going on?"

"I'm not sure."

This was definitely an unexpected twist. The lights continued to flicker for a few seconds before going off entirely. Penny moved so that she was right at Sheldon's side in case he had to use his power to help them both escape.

"You'd think they'd have a back-up generator, right?"

"They do, but -"

Penny heard noises outside the vault and grabbed Sheldon's hand tightly. The lights flickered on again and she could hear a strange buzzing noise from outside the door. They stood together and watched as the door open and a man about Penny's height dressed all in black stood there with three much larger men surrounding him.

"Well, this was not what I was expecting to find in here."

He nodded at Sheldon and Penny while directing his guards, "Shoot them."

All three pulled out guns and began firing, but each bullet passed through Sheldon easily. The four men pausing and staring in shock gave Penny the perfect opportunity to roll over the counter top and out of the way of their fire.

Even though he was twice her size, she took the first one out easily, knocking the gun out of his hand and delivering a quick blow to the head with her other fist.

Sheldon walked right through the stream of bullets coming from the one closest to him and quickly knocked him unconscious using what Penny liked to call his Vulcan brain pinch. (For the record, Sheldon went back and forth between being amused by that name and absolutely hating the inaccuracy of it.)

The third guy was a bit tougher than the other two and a better fighter which just meant Penny had to work a lot harder. Especially since the little guy was trying to jump on her back. She threw him off just as she was able to bring the big guy to his knees and Sheldon did his pinch on him.

She swiveled around quickly and knocked the ringleader to the floor, keeping him pinned underneath her with her knee planted in the middle of his chest. He was young, no more than twenty-five for sure.

"Infinity, I presume?" His words were slightly clipped, probably because she was currently pressing her entire weight into his lungs.

"How the hell did you do it? How did you get in here?"

"I know how you did. Phaser can walk through walls. Man, what I wouldn't give for that power."

Sheldon crouched down beside them and looked him over. "Your henchman. They're human. That much is clear. What are you?"

He coughed loudly and Penny eased up just enough to let him breathe better, but even though he squirmed, he wasn't going anywhere.

"I'm a technopath."

Penny frowned in confusion and then looked up at Sheldon, "A what?"

"He can control electrical devices, electronics of all sorts. It's how he was able to disable the security systems, mess with the lights and get in this vault. It was also how he was planning to get into the boxes without needing thumbprints or codes."

"Well, that's one I've never heard of. So... I guess you were right, Sheldon. There really are more like us."

"Of course there are. We just had to wait for them to start crawling out of the woodwork."

The man underneath her coughed again and Penny turned back to look at him. "What?"

"You could just let me go, you know. Or you could join me. Whatever power you have, his phasing ability and my ability combined? We'd make a great team."

"Now you're just being dumb. Honey, can we put this idiot to sleep now?"

"Yes. Better hurry too. The guard must know something is up by now."

Penny could have let Sheldon do this the clean way, but something about this guy's face just bugged her. She had to admit it was a little satisfying to hear him squeal as he laid there helpless watching her fist about to connect with his face.

They had brought some of those plastic handcuffs, the kind that look like large twist ties, and quickly cuffed each of the four men.

She grabbed Sheldon’s hand again and they made a quick escape through the building and out to a side street. They made sure it wasn’t the way that the police would be coming too.

When they were a safe distance away, but still taking back alleyways and side streets to avoid being spotted in their costumes, Penny stopped and started inspecting her jacket.

"Hey, I didn’t get hit anywhere did I?"

Sheldon took a quick look at her from back to front and then shook his head. "No, they all seemed to miss you."

"Oh, good."

"Why are you concerned? It’s not as if bullets can hurt you."

"I know, but, this outfit? It’s really cool. And I would hate for you to have to make new ones or fix them all the time."

"I appreciate that. But I am working on spares for both of us. Just in case."

"By the way, can we stop calling them costumes and call them, I don’t know, uniforms or something?"

Sheldon shrugged nonchalantly. "Whatever you want."

He must have been feeling so good about their latest victory that he hadn’t even thought to protest. Even when she knew she was right or she was going to get her way, Sheldon usually put up a fight anyway.

She let it go and just enjoyed it this time. They were both feeling good. Like nothing could stop them.

* * *

  


> Clearly nobody has ever lectured either of us on the concept of hubris.
> 
> But just because we’re feeling pretty proud of ourselves lately doesn’t mean we’re in for a fall. Right?
> 
> We’re pretty much untouchable last I checked.

  


* * *

 **Step The-Last-One: You Got What You Wanted, What Now?**

They were eating pizza at Leonard and Priya's new apartment when it came over the news. A whole story about how the night before, a major robbery had been thwarted by Infinity and Phaser, the first confirmed real life superheroes.

This wasn't just local news. It hit all the national news broadcasts too. It was what most people would call "a really big deal".

Their friends watched in shock as a short five seconds of grainy video footage showed Phaser and Infinity escape by walking through the bank's walls leaving four unconscious criminals behind. Penny and Sheldon feigned shock as well, but Penny couldn't help but pinch Sheldon's thigh and give him a pointed glance when nobody was looking.

The cameras had turned back on, probably after the technopath had been knocked unconscious, giving the entire world their first view of what a mutant looked like in action. Their reporter friend Karen Kincaid was being interviewed everywhere, and making sure everyone knew that she had never actually met Infinity and Phaser in person and had no way of tracing their whereabouts. Good thing she was loyal and honest.

"Wow. Real life superheroes, right here in Pasadena. That’s unbelievable."

Penny looked towards Howard and nodded in agreement, her eyes wide. "Yeahhhhhhh. Totally unbelievable."

"They could be anybody. Infinity could be the girl who served us coffee this afternoon. Anybody!"

Penny tried not to laugh because Infinity’s days of serving coffee were over now. So, she kept smiling and hoped she wasn’t being too awkward. Sheldon just kept eating his pizza as if it wasn’t a big deal at all.

"And if there are two superpowered people out there, there is probably more. One of us could have powers and not even know it."

All eyes went to Leonard as he finished his sentence. Bernadette looked like she was about to choke on her pizza while Sheldon calmly wiped the corner of his mouth with a napkin.

"I’m certain I would know if I had superpowers. As would any of you."

Priya sat on the arm of Leonard’s chair and interjected, "I think he meant one of us could have powers and be hiding it from the rest of the group."

"In my experience, no one in this room is very adept at keeping secrets so I find that unbelievable as well."

Penny caught Raj looking back and forth between her and Sheldon suspiciously as he put his glass of wine down on the table. "Exceeeeeept..."

"Have some more wine, Raj." Penny grabbed the bottle and poured for him as she continued to speak, "What I want to know is how these people, if they even _are_ people got their powers to begin with."

Raj seemed to forget what he was going to say before that and looked back at her, "What do you mean ‘if they even are people’? What else would they be?"

Amy answered him matter-of-factly, "They could be aliens who look humanoid. Cyborgs. Humans who are actually mutants. It’s doubtful they are completely human no matter their origin. Even an accident involving radiation would cause them to be mutants, thus, not entirely human. The possibilities are endless."

This sparked a good ninety minutes of debate, speculation and excited chatter from everyone in the room. Everything from conspiracy theories about genetically engineered super soldiers to superpowered aliens were discussed until even Penny was tired of hearing about it. Sheldon was surprisingly smooth about joining in on the discussion without ever slipping up about what he knew, and Penny actually had fun trying to throw her friends off with her own wild theories.

They somehow made it through dinner without either one of them slipping up, which was a good sign of how well they'd be able to keep it a secret now that their superhero identities were becoming famous. But it didn’t stop her from worrying anyway. They happened to be friends with geniuses and just because they hadn’t figured it out tonight didn’t mean they were never going to.

Neither of them spoke a word until they were back upstairs and in Sheldon's apartment when Penny decided to break the silence.

"So I guess we're famous now, huh? What happens next?"

"We wait. For other mutants to contact us."

Penny was chewing on her bottom lip nervously. "Did you get a post office box or something? Twitter? Facebook? How do you expect this to happen?"

"Karen Kincaid. Anyone who watches those news reports will know she has contact with us, and they'll get to us through her."

"That's what worries me. Listening to the guys talk about all these comic books and scenarios. Everyone who knows us could be in danger. Including her. I don't think we thought this through enough."

"I have thought about it. Plenty. I’ve analyzed it from every possible angle. And we'll protect the people around us. And we'll protect each other. It will work out."

Penny nodded and threw her arms around him and let her head rest on his chest with a sigh. His arms embraced her protectively and she tried to let her worries go, but as much as she believed in Sheldon's mission, she worried anyway.

She reminded herself that she was invincible after all. And Sheldon was pretty close to being invincible himself. Maybe nothing could hurt them, because try as they might, they had yet to find any weaknesses in their powers.

That had to be enough to protect them. It just had to be.

* * *

  


> I’m not psychic. My power isn’t seeing the future though I sometimes wish it was. But sometimes you just know when something bad is coming. And I can just feel it deep down. Sheldon thinks I’m being ridiculous, and maybe I am. I hope that this time he’s right and I’m wrong, but... I just don’t know.
> 
> If this were a movie, there would probably be some sort of dark, serious sounding voice-over right about now with an ominous piece of score (probably by Hans Zimmer) playing underneath it.
> 
> It would probably be filled with clichés about how this is just the calm before the storm, and stuff about good and evil and heroes and villians and… whatever.
> 
> I don’t know. That’s why I’m not a writer. I’m just a waitress-turned-stuntwoman and part-time superhero.

  


* * *

Penny remembered these videos from when she was a kid about how to stay safe. Things about not talking to strangers or how if you come home and your front door is even partially open, you should never go inside. It stayed with her, somewhere in the back of her mind, for years.

So when she hit the fourth floor landing and saw Sheldon’s door cracked slightly, her heart immediately jumped into her throat.

If it were someone else, maybe she would just believe that they had been careless and accidentally left the door open. But this was Sheldon and he was the most careful person she had ever known.

Something was wrong. Very very wrong. But these days she wasn’t too afraid to go inside the apartment.

Penny slowly opened the door and called out, "Sheldon? You okay?"

No answer.

The living room was empty with no signs of life except for the glass of water sitting on the table next to where Sheldon usually sat.

She walked to the hallway and saw that his bedroom door was wide open and he was not in there so she turned to their tech room. The locks were still intact, but the door was completely unlocked.

Penny took a deep breath in and turned the knob, hoping to find him hunched over a keyboard like usual. But what she found was a room full of smashed equipment.

Stuck to the wall on the other side was a note, pinned there with a knife through the top of it. In a thin neat scrawl, it read:

"Infinity,

If you wish to see your friend Phaser alive, you will meet me at the following GPS coordinates at eight o’clock this evening. Come alone and I promise that he will be returned to you alive."

Underneath that were a set of numbers, and it was signed with the name Coronis and a drawing of a black raven.

Her mind was swimming. How did anyone manage to capture Sheldon? He could phase right through handcuffs or ropes.

If someone tried to grab him, he could phase right through them as well. Something had stopped him and whatever it was scared her.

She checked the time. Eight full hours before she had to meet this mysterious Coronis. Eight hours in which she would have plenty of time to imagine every possible horrible outcome. Penny couldn’t feel physical pain anymore, but it felt like something was ripping at her insides.

Someone had found Sheldon’s weakness. And Penny had found hers. It was Sheldon.

* * *

 **TO BE CONTINUED**  



End file.
